Bowling alley



March 27, 1945. Q HANSLEY 2,372,572

l BOWLING ALLEY Filed May 11, 1944 Patented Mar. 27, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT orifice 2,372,572' BOWLING ALLEY Quincey Hansley, New York, N. Y.

substituted for abandoned application Serial No.

430,332, February 11, 1942. May 11, 1944, Serial No. 535,095

4 claims. (C41. 27a- 49) tion of a baby grand bowling alley which isi characterized by a platform with a pin eld at its rear end and a ball collecting fieldimmediately to the rear of the pin eld. The"y :bowling alley.

is also provided with side gutters for catching balls attempting to roll off the platform.

Another object of this invention resides in the provision of a stop pad suspended at` the back ofthe platform of the bowling alley for. stoppingI the balls as they pass the pin eld.

The invention also proposes the provision of a transverse guide bar mounted intermediate the platform of the alley for assisting in locating the path through which the balls are to bethrown by the player in order to effectively strike a bowling` pin on the pin eld.

The invention also contemplates the provision of a ball return guide, and a novel `arrangement' l by which this guide may be placed into androutA Of use.

The invention also proposes the provision of y means for adjusting the guide rod verticallyandr furthermore, simultaneously and automatically` adjusting the stop pad vertically in speciiic relation to adjustments of the guiderod.

For further comprehension of the invention, and of the objects and advantages thereof, reference will be had to the following description and accompanying drawing, and to the` appended` claims in which the various novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawing forming a material part of this disclosure- Fig. 1 is a plan view of a baby grand bowling alley constructed in accordance with thisinvention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectionalview taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical sectional. view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary longitudinalsectional View similar to Fig. 2 but illustrating a modified construction. i

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken onthe line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 4.

The baby grand bowling alley, in accordance This? application is illustrated supported upon support blocks` I'I.

This platform III is provided with alpin iieldA I2' at its rear end and a ball collecting iield I3 im mediately to the rear of the pin iield. The` platform II'I is formed from several layers of material. There is a top layer I4 which terminatesiat the piniield I2. There is abottom layer I5 which extends past the. pin Aiield I2 and serves to formf The ball collecting4 afield I3 is surrounded by side walls I6 and aback theball collecting field I3.

walll I'I. Gutters I8 extend along the sides of the platform Ill yfor catching and holding ballsl which tend to' roll off the platform. These gutters are supplemented with side boards- I 9 at tachedupon the sides of the platform I0 and gutters I8.

A guide rod 26 is mounted across a front portion' of the platform II).` This guide rod 20' is supported upon standards 2| mounted on the `sides of the boards I9. The guide rod 20 is for the purpose of guiding a player in eiectivelyr throwing balls to strike the pins which are intended to be' rested upon the pin field I2.

A ball return guide 22 is xedly mounted upon "one end of the rod 2U and extendsalong. the side of the platform Ill. This` ball returnk 22 is normally directed downwards atan inclination from the rear tothe front as illustrated by full lines? 3 0. in Fig. 2. The ball return guide is iixedly connected on the rod 420 by a pin 24. Means is provided for releasably holding the rod 20v from turning. This means includes a key 25 mounted on thev side of the ball return guide 22 and engaging., a complementary key opening formed in the adjacent standard 2 I.

A spring 26 is coaxially mounted on the rod 20 and acts between av pin.21 mounted on the rod 20 and one of the standards 2| This spring- 261 normally urges the rod 26 in a direction so as to cause the key 25 to engage its complementary key opening. y

The rod 26 is providedwith a head 28 whichmay be pressed inwards to compress the spring 26A and to move the. key 25 out from the keyopening. Then the ball return guide 2B may be pivoted to the position indicated by the dot and dash linesv 22' in Fig. 2. In this latter condition the rear portion of the ball return guide with this'invention, includes a platform I0 which 55 block 29 is mounted in the front end of the guide 22 to stop and hold the balls at this point until they are removed by a player.

A support bar 30 is mounted across the walls i6. A stop pad 3l is supported by several cords 32 attached to the bar 30. Thus the stop pad 3| is suspended to the rear of the ball collecting field I3.

In Figs. 'ii-6 inclusive a modified form of the invention has been disclosed which distinguishes from the prior form in an arrangement for automatically changing the position of the pad 3l' when the position of the guide rod 20 is changed. The pad 3| is provided with a plurality of horizontal guide lines 33 inscribed across its front face. These guide lines 33 are for the purpose of assisting a player in aiming his balls at the pins.

The rod is mounted through sockets 34 and 35 which are vertically adjustably mounted in standards 2l. These standards 2l' have vertical slots 3E. Vertical screws 31 are rotatively mounted through the standards 2| and threadedly engage the sockets 34 and 35. The arrangement is such that the screws 3l may be turned in one direction or another to adjust the sockets 34 and 35 upwards or downwards. This changes the vertical position of the guide rod 20.

Levers 38 are pivotally mounted intedmerdiate of their ends by pintles 39 upon standards 4D mounted on the boards I9. The front ends of the levers 38 are pivoted with slots 40 through which the bar 2) passes. The rear ends of the levers 38 are formed with slots 4l engaged by pins 42 mounted on levers 43. These. levers 43 are pivotally mounted intermediate of their ends by pintles 44 on standards 45 mounted on side walls I6. The rear ends of the levers 43 are provided with horizontal slots 46.

Sockets 4l are slidably mounted in the slots 46. These sockets 41 are threadedly engaged by screws 48 which are rotatively mounted on the levers 43. The arrangement is such that the screws 43 may be turned to move the sockets forwards or rearwards. A bar B is mounted across the sockets 47. The stop pad 3| is provided with strips 5l mounted on the rod 50 by which the stop pad 3l depends.

The ball return 22 is provided with a key 25 which engages a key opening in the side of the socket 35. The spring 26 acts between the pin 21 and side of one of the levers 38. The arrangement is such that the spring 23 normally holds the key 25 engaging its complementary key opening. The head 28 of the rod 2l] may be pressed inwards to disengage the key 25 from its key opening and then the ball return guide 22 may be pivoted to. its inoperative position.

The screws 3l may be turned to raise or lower the sockets 34 and 35 which indirectly raises or lowers the guide rod 20. Simultaneously, the levers 33 will be pivoted. which in turn will pivot the levers 43 which will indirectly act to correspondingly raise or lower the stop pad 33.

The player aims by aligning the rod 20 with one of the lines 33 on the stop pad 3| and then throws the ball and attempts to hit the pins (not shown on the drawing) which are mounted on the pin field I2. To test the condition of the players form the vertical position of the rod 2U may be adjusted. This also automatically changes the vertical position of the stop pad 3|.

The game is played in the conventional manner with the player standing at the front of the platform and attempting to throw down the pins placed upon the pin field l2 of the platform. Small wooden balls are used for this purpose. The balls are stopped by the stop pads 3| and 3l.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of my invention it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the Dre cise constructions herein disclosed. And the right is reserved to all changes and modifications coming within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

l. In a bowling alley having a platform with a pin field at its rear end and a ball collecting field immediately to the rear of the pin field, a transverse rod turnably mounted on said platform, a ball return guide fiXedly mounted on said rod and extending along the side of said platform and normally being directed at a downward inclination from its rear to its front end, and means for releasably holding said rod from turning, comprising a key mounted on the side of the ball return guide and engaging a key opening in a stationary part.

2. In a bowling alley having a platform with a pin field at its rear end and a ball collecting field immediately to the rear of the pin eld, a transverse rod turnably mounted on said platform, a ball return guide fixedly mounted on said rod and extending along the side of said platform and normally being directed at a downward inclination from its rear to its front end, and means for releasably holding said rod from turning, comprising a key mounted on the side of the ball return guide and engaging a key opening in a stationary part, said rod being movable to move the ball return guide to disengage said key.

3. In a bowling alley having a platform with a pin field at its rear end and a ball collecting field immediately to the rear of the pin field, a trans- -verse rod turnably mounted at the front of said platform, a ball return guide Xedly mounted on said rod and extending along the side of said platform and normally being directed at a downward inclination from its rear to its front end, and means for releasably holding said rod from turning, comprising a key mounted to the side of the ball return guide and engaging a key opening in a stationary part, said rod being movable to move the ball return guide to disenga-ge the said key, resilient means urging the rod in one direction to enage said key and key opening.

4. In a bowling alley having a platform with a pin field at its rear end and a ball collecting field immediately to the rear of the pin field, a transverse rod turnably mounted at the front of said platform, a ball return guide iixedly mounted on said rod and extending along the side of said platform and normally being directed at a downward inclination from its rear to its front end, and means for releasably holding said rod from turning, comprising resilient means urging said rod in one direction and a key mounted on said ball guide and engaging a complementary key opening in a stationary part.

QUINCEY HANSLEY. 

